My ears.

No just joking, YouTube music mostly. It's convenient, available everywhere, has a large catalogue, and good enough quality for me.

FLACs from CDs, deemix-gui, qobuz-dl, and Soulseek. 102,000 songs. Play at home with Logitech Media Server. On the road I've transcoded it all to 128kbps Opus so i can fit it on a microsd card and I play it with PowerAmp. I mostly use Blessing2 Dusk earbuds with a Shanling MW200 bluetooth neckband, but sometimes also I use Focal Clear OG open-back over-ear cans with a qdelix 5k for bluetooth.

FLACs through PlexAmp, either to nice headphones ($500 range) or two channel stereo into some decent speakers with a decent subwoofer. I'd like to upgrade to "full range" speakers one day and save the subwoofer for movies.

PlexAmp does FLAC when connected to Wi-Fi but I have it set to transcode if I'm using mobile data.

At home it gets played through Chromecast Audios (R.I.P) which keeps it all digital until it hits my receiver.

Audiophiles don't listen to music, they listen to their headphones

„Audiophiles don't use their equipment to listen to your music. Audiophiles use your music to listen to their equipment.“

Alan Parsons

Spotify -> MOTU M2 -> HiFiMan Ananda non-stealth

"High resolution" audio is completely useless for listening (16 bit 44.1 kHz is the best it gets) and there is little value in lossless encodes for listening purposes too, so I don't get the point of all those "Hifi" streaming services.
If you own lossless encodes, I guess it doesn't hurt to use them even for listening as storage is cheap these days.

Speaking of which, I'd like to switch to purchasing my music though because Spotify will certainly continue on its path towards full enshittification. I want to be in a position where I own all my favourite music before Spotify will be infected with ads on premium plans. Oh and artists are somewhat more likely to be paid a little for their work that way (I hope...)
I plan to use the free YT music for discovery at that point.

Spotify through Sonos at home and work. Spotify on Google earbuds when out and about.

I used to really love music discovery on Spotify. I now find it's the same ald songs over and over. It finds what you like and reinforces that rather than gradually expand it.

I have converted all my CDs to FLAC and I mostly listen to my music collection in stereo speakers instead of headphones because I find the sound more natural. I have built my sound system around the moOde audio software.

FLAC's on NAS. Bluesound Node to stereo system, controlled with Roon. PlexAmp when remote.

Tidal is actually giving their lossless plan to their lower tier subscription, just got an email about it. Pretty nice.

Music collection as flac, navidrome as streaming server, symfonium as android app and B&W P5 or B&W Pi7 S2 for headphones.

At home: Spotify through Amazon Fire TV through Klipsch The Fives.

On the move: Spotify through Jabra Elite 4 Active.

In the bathroom: Spotify through UE Boom.

I really want to ditch Spotify, but in the meantime...

Budget audiophile here: I wear Superlux HD681 semi-open back cans paired with a Creative G6 DAC/amp.

The headphones are $25 but have the the most realistic soundstage I've ever heard in a pair of cans, even better than $500+ ones. Pinna activation is almost perfect; feels more like being surrounded by speakers than wearing headphones. Makes them amazing for gaming and movies, but not the best for music due to harsh siblants in the 12kHz range, which I've managed to EQ out a bit using Equalizer APO. Nice neutral sound otherwise, mids are almost perfectly flat and bass is tight—yet full—extending well below 20hz. Honestly you can't do better without spending half a grand or more.

Qobuz for me.

Ehhh, I'm ballin on a budget, so take that into account.

Generally, if I really want to sink into the music, I'm going with either my lgg7 and my beyerdynamic 770 80 ohm; or whatever device can connect with my usb DAC, a fiio q3.

I do have other options, but that's my main listening because I simply don't have the budget to do a proper system with how little I get a chance to listen to music away from headphones. My computer has a decent sound card, and some klipsch speakers that aren't bad. There's a home theater unit with cd/bluray hooked up, as well as the shieldTV, and the ability to connect via Bluetooth or cable to whatever device I prefer.

My car is decent, but not audiophile level. More bass focused than anything else.

I do have other headphones. Some tin t2s, some sonys, an old set of koss, that kind of thing.

File wise, its flac and opus.

I use poweramp and/or usb audio player pro. I prefer poweramp, but the other does bit perfect, which I do like on occasion, and it's more DAC friendly.

I'm happy with the options I have, all considered. Most of it was picked up either on sale or used. I would save up while shopping, then get the best I could get when I was ready. But the key to me is that when I want to, I can listen to anything I have and hear the nuance of it. The sound is as clean as I can get it on my budget, and in all reality, my old ears can't make use of anything fancier.

You spend almost fifty years living and listening to it loud, you aren't going to get much bang for your buck out of the really high dollar, precise gear. Hell, I can barely tell a difference between lossless files and mp3 om any given listening method. It's there, I can still hear a difference, but it's barely there for me. The better gear helps, but not enough to keep upgrading for tiny changes.

I just use YouTube music revanced

At Home:

• FLACs via mpd with a topping headphone amp and Audeze LCD2C headphones
• Vinyl using an Audio Technica LP120, a Denon AV receiver and cheap wharfedale bookshelf speakers and a Klipsch subwoofer. That Setup isn't really audiophile tbh, especially because the room sounds terrible.
• Streaming via Qobuz on both systems

On the go:

• Everything encoded as Opus 128 kbit/s to fit on my phone. Played over Lypertek Tevy true wireless IEMs. Not really audiophile but tbh when I'm not at home I care much more about convenience as long as the audio quality is good enough.
• also Qobuz, but at MP3 320 quality to save bandwidth

I wrote my own scripts to tag the music and encode it to FLAC and Opus and use syncthing to copy the files to my phone. So whenever I add an album to the library it will be available every where I want in the specified format without any manual copying involved. It's a little janky but has worked surprisingly well for years.

At home: FLACs ripped from CDs (prefer to buy albums I enjoy instead of Spotifying them) -> KORG DS-DAC 100 -> TEAC AX-501 -> Elac Carina BS243.4

On the go: The same FLACs on Pixel 6 Pro -> B&O Beoplay HX

PC Spotify -> Schiit Modi -> Schiit Vali 2 -> PreSonus Eris E4.5 speakers.

Or

Pixel 8 Pro Spotify -> "TempoTec Sonata HD PRO" USB DAC -> Meze 99 Classic headphones.

Does anyone think it's worth moving to Tidal for my music?

Also, I'm running out of space on my desk. I can put the stack of Schiit on top of a speaker with minimal effects, right?

I use deemix to get songs and jellyfin/finamp to listen on my phone. I do miss the discovery of new music from things like Spotify or YouTube music. If anyone has suggestions for music discovery I'd love to hear about them.

I’ve got a special speaker assembly that I shove up my ass*. The bass response is particularly pleasing.

• this isn’t true.

CDs ripped to FLAC and streamed using Emby. I also use Amazon Music. At work I have a pair of ATH-M30x headphones I really like. At home ibhave some Sennheiser HD350, which are ok, but I don't like them that much as they're not that comfy. I prefer going through the hifi - Audiolab 6000A amp, Wharfedale Pacific Evo 40 floor standers and a Wiim mini. I also have a NAD C541i CD player. On my PC I go through a NAD C320 amp and Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 bookshelves.

FLACs/Qobuz via Roon. I spend the most time in my office so that’s where my favorite setup is. LS50 Metas + SVS SB-1000 Pro + Peachtree GaN stack.

I also love my HD660s with the Bottlehead Crack tube amp I built.

A technics changer or linear tracker. I think the changer has a shure cartridge still but the linear tracker has an at. Sometimes through a pair of numark ttxs with m447s and a rane.

Sennheiser 6XX

HD 560S for the cans. For my source, I use spotify, using my local library of FLACS for the stuff I like a lot, and just normal spotifly for everything else.

For earphones I have a set of KZ ZSN Pro X IEMs for when I'm on the go, when I'm at home I have my Audio Technica ATH-M50X.
On the player side I love InnerTune as a YouTube Music Frontend, while for analog I refurbished my father's BSR turntable and Phillips amplifier, both straight from the '80s

I listen to music mostly on my computer and in the car. The car system is nothing special. I listen through either some ATH-M40fs cans, or Presonus Erie 3.5 monitors, which are honestly glorified bookshelf speakers, but decent for the price, IMHO. All running from my (older gen2) Focusrite 2i4 interface.

I used to listen in the train/metro/bus a lot more, but I now work remotely. That’s where I used Bluetooth stuff. No need to worry about the cable getting stiff in the cold or stuck in my winter jacket. I had a pair of Beats Studio 3 I paid less than $100 for that were pretty decent for the price I paid. The sound was as bass heavy as you’d imagine from the brand, but not terribly overpowering for casual listening, and the ANC in particular was pretty impressive. I also had some Anker wireless earbuds I got with a coupon on Drop (formerly Massdrop) that were good enough for listening to podcasts and having background music.

In terms of platforms, YouTube Music mostly, and a hand picked selection on Plex for stuff that’s not on there or that I want to have always available. The music discovery algorithms are completely useless for me though. It’s the one thing Spotify did better than YTM for me. The “My Mix” playlists and artist radios have been pushing me the same artists for months on end now. Want to know the ironic part? I discover most of my music on YouTube (not Music) nowadays…

With a drink.

24bit 96kHz FLAC (purchased from Bandcamp & HDTracks) -> JRiver Media Center software player -> Merging Anubis Pro DAC -> Coleman Audio M3PHmk2 passive monitor controller -> Pass Labs X250 class A solid state power amp -> B&W Nautilus 802 3-way floor standing speakers

Or if from vinyl KAB modded Technics SL1200mk2 -> Shure V-15MR cartridge -> Simaudio Moon LP5.3 balanced preamp ->

(in 20' x 14' x 9' room with bass traps, absorbers and diffusors by GIK, ATS, and Auralex)

My current chain is Tidal + Schiit Asgard DAC/amp + Audeze LCD-X. Moved from Spotify to Tidal last month and will never go back. I definitely prefer headphones over speakers, but have really been enjoying IK Multimedia iLoud Micro Monitors.

Tidal HiFi/medium tier ->Equalizer APO with just a tiny bit of tuning -> a xDuoo stack of USB DAC + hybrid tube amp -> Sennheiser HD560S

Definitely a little bit of overkill. But still overall fantastic budget, and do it all setup. Competitive shooters, movies, and music all sound fantastic.

My next goal is a multibit DAC + tube only amp -> something like a HD 6XX. Or maybe a good solid state -> planar magnetic headphones.